1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is in the technical field of solar electricity generation systems. More particularly, the present invention is in the technical field of solar panel mounting and installation assemblies within solar electric generation systems.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
The following descriptions and examples are provided as background only and are intended to reveal information that is believed to be of possible relevance to the present invention. No admission is necessarily intended, or should be construed, that any of the following information constitutes prior art impacting the patentable character of the subject matter claimed herein.
Within a solar electric generation system that utilizes solar panels, conventional systems for mounting and installing the solar panels rely on the delivery and in-field assembly of a large number of individual metal components at the site of the generation system to create a mounting assembly. The design of the mounting assembly may vary depending on whether the solar electric generation system is ground mounted, or mounted onto a roof, over-hang or other building structure.
In most cases, the mounting assembly usually comprises a number of metal components (such as rails, frames, clamps and vertical supports), which must be assembled on-site by an experienced field technician to form an open frame or rack structure for supporting a plurality of solar panels. The solar panels do not come preassembled onto the mounting assembly and must be installed (typically using a plurality of mechanical fasteners, such as clamps and screws) on-site. Once the solar panels are in place, the electrical components of the system must be properly wired in order to produce electricity that can be utilized by entities such as homes, businesses, utilities, and electric equipment.
These conventional systems require substantial site preparation activities and in-field labor by skilled technicians that are expensive and provide limited opportunity to control or inspect the work product during construction. In addition, the implementation resulting from this conventional approach can vary greatly from site to site. Thus, the conventional approach significantly hampers the ability for solar panel mounting and installation to become more standardized, and hence more cost effective. Further, conventional systems do not seek to optimize natural convection forces for purposes of cooling the solar panel and associated power conversion devices, and thus, fail to optimize the solar conversion efficiency of the system electric generation system.